I am not doubting your story, but saying that KSP is the stepping stone to a balsa model sim would have been opposite to what I would have thought. But if their

I am not doubting your story, but saying that KSP is the stepping stone to a balsa model sim would have been opposite to what I would have thought. But if their goal is accurate flight model simming I can see how that's quite a different thing than what Kerbal is. I like Kerbal because of the scale of the systems that are possible, and because of the challenge of planning out the logistics of a cross-solar-system flight. Setting up a scientific "colony" on a far flung planet is just a cool thing. I certainly don't come to Kerbal for its flight mechanics - not saying they're bad for what they are. It's just that the game's physics are built around the requirements of time accel. Also, I've heard the broad strokes of that story about Squad before and always wished I knew the specifics. Getting an ad agency to financially support a video game to get an employee to stay - that's gotta be an interesting story.